This award supports Dr. Sergei Ostapenko and a graduate student from the University of Southern Florida in a collaboration with J¼rgen Werner of the Department of Physical Electronics at the University of Stuttgart. The collaboration brings together the complementary capabilities of the German and U.S. groups to study the effects of ultrasound treatment on hot-wire hydrogenated polysilicon thin films on glass and polysilicon solar cells. Defects in the polysilicon determine the electronic quality of the material formed, and one way to improve the quality is to passivate the defects by hydrogenation. In addition to exploring the effects of ultrasound, the research will apply a combination of traditional and novel characterization techniques to monitor those effects. The research will use experimental facilities of both institutions, and the exchange of personnel and graduate students will strongly benefit the transfer of advanced knowledge and capabilities. The results of the research could have an impact on a new generation of low-cost solar cells and high-performance thin-film transistors used for active-matrix liquid-crystal-display technology.
